3 big holidays + your diet = ?

There are 3 big holidays coming up; Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. What are you going to do to stay on track?

Well if a piece of pumpkin pie is all I can have for lunch then so be it!  I will be very selective in my calorie choices so that I do not deny myself the pleasure of my own great cooking!  Count everything and have a Happy Holiday Season!

I'm hoping to not gain more than 1.5lbs.  :D  I think it'll be pretty easy.  I need to get back into eating regularly again anyways, I haven't been hitting the best numbers lately.

two words : portion control.

Well, most people think of the triad as an ongoing season, but if you think about it, its really only 3 days out of the year. As long as you don't stuff yourself on those days, you're fine. I understand some people will run into treats at the office or other places, but then you just have to make a decision, would you rather have all those caloric treats or lose/maintain? Some people can just take one cookie, but if you can't you have to keep that in mind.

It's going to be easy for me! Being vegetarian and spending the two holidays (Thanksgiving/Christmas) with my boyfriend's omnivore family means less for me to eat, and I'll be less likely to be tempted by all the food and treats. Of course I will probably prepare stuff to bring to the dinners. Since I'm preparing it for just myself and my boyfriend, I'm able to control the portions.

Obviously, this is just my unique case though...

I've become vegetarian for reasons other than weight loss, and so the threat of fattening grease meat is no longer a threat at all but a breeze of wind.  I will stick to my own meals and stay on the salad side.  Hopefully I'll lose some weight during the holidays.

And I plan to make lots of meringue mushrooms.

It's actually going to aid my weight loss, because I work long shifts all three holidays, and don't do anything to celebrate them anyway.

i managed to lose weight over the holidays last year. I just stayed on track during the normal non-holiday days. But I let myself enjoy the holiday food as well. I just ate smaller portions and realized taht i will be able to eat that food again lol. It's not my last meal!

Halloween won't be too big a deal, I can avoid the candy although I'm taking a break that day and making a nice big yellow cake with chocolate frosting to follow stew served in a pumpkin. I am not a stew fan so..more calories to spend on cake. On Thanksgiving and Christmas I plan to stuff my face as much as I want. It's just 2 days and those 2 days are a month apart. Those 2 days alone will not do a darned thing to hurt my diet so I'm not sweating them at all. Of course, I plan to be on maintenence by Christmas so I have the ulitmate goal to keep from slipping up the other days.

Nothing at all. Mwahahaha! I'm Russian, so won't be celebrating any of the three. 

We DO however celebrate New Year's in a big big way (presents, parties, food, etc). I'm going to let myself go then - for just one day!

Christmas is on January 7th, but it's more of a 'conservative' religious holiday here, so there won't be any danger of food or fun.

We don't make such a big thing of Hallowe'en or do Thanksgiving in the UK but Christmas seems to start in about August!   It's not the day (s) itself that causes the problems really.  It's that mass hysteria that grips people when they walk into the supermarket and suddenly feel the urge to buy army-catering size packs of cheese, peanuts, Quality Street (sweets), sweet sherry and other festive foods that they don't need.  Then they end up either eating/drinking it all before Christmas and regretting it, or find themselves still snacking on Ferrero Rocher well into February and regretting that.

We're spending Christmas with relatives this year so we'll just ignore all the hype, enjoy Christmas lunch, and come home to a house that's not packed to the rafters with mince-pies.  Plenty of walks in crisp winter sunshine to work off the excess.... problem solved.

Halloween - We have some fun size bags of malteasers for any kiddies that come round trick or treating. As malteasers are quite good in calories we won't feel too guilty if a few end up inside us.

Thanksgiving - I'm British.

Christmas - I will have 3 days (Christmas eve, Christmas day & boxig day) of indulging but it will be indulging within reason & stopping when I'm full. Although in the 2 weeks before Christmas I know there will be goodies lying around at work to tempt me but then again I'll be running around getting stressed, as working in retail at Christmas is mental, that I'll probably either not have time to eat them or burn them off easily.

Halloween - not a big one for me, I'm more of a savory-eater than a sweet-eater!  But, if I did have candy around it would be ultra-rich mini squares of Ghirardelli or something so that a tiny piece was more satisfying than say, two handfuls of candy corn (blech!).

Thanksgiving - I used to have a BIG problem with this holiday.  But for the past few years, I've gone running in the a.m. (many towns have a local "Turkey Trot," or 5K that you can do in teh a.m. to take the edge off all that food later in the day)... AND I've started my thanksgiving meal with veggies... So, green beans, beets, even corn, THEN dig into the mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing... Usually by the time you get to the heavy stuff you're already satisfied!

Christmas - I usually let it ride :)  It's only one day a year!  I just like to wear a tight dress or pants to dinner so that I don't feel so full to the point where it's  uncomfortable.

Good luck all !

Hallowe'en is no big deal for me; my family's really never been into it.  Thanksgiving was two weeks ago.  :-)  (Canadian, eh!)  For Christmas/New Year's, I'll watch portion sizes and just eat maintenance; I have no interest in "dieting" on those days.  I'll also make some healthy side dishes for me and my mum (e.g. stuffing that's mostly rice and veg instead of the traditional block-of-sausage-meat stuffing).

Thanks for all the responses!

For me it's 3 separate holidays all a month apart, and I plan to have fun on those 3 days but then back on the diet afterward. One day, 3 times, a month apart each will be good for the soul! ;)

Halloween's not a big deal--freshman year of college my mom sent me a pumpkin full of candy! But I've told her since then thanks, but no thanks! Now I live in an off-campus house so we'll probably pick up the candy tomorrow. Won't get too much, hope to run out, and if we don't between five girls it shouldn't be too much damage.

Thanksgiving I'll be going home for, and when I come back I'll try and bring only things that will serve as MEALS (such as the turkey soup from the leftover turkey), and only a littttle dessert.

Christmas will be the challenge but I'll just have to work on portion control, and hop on the Wii Fit every day, as well as resume my hosting job!

Original Post by bicycles:

Nothing at all. Mwahahaha! I'm Russian, so won't be celebrating any of the three.

We DO however celebrate New Year's in a big big way (presents, parties, food, etc). I'm going to let myself go then - for just one day!

Christmas is on January 7th, but it's more of a 'conservative' religious holiday here, so there won't be any danger of food or fun.

Ah New Year fun, with real fireworks. Not sparklers they sell here in California. Good times, good times.

Anyway to answer the Original Poster (OP) question. I am just going to incorporate the fun stuff in to my diet. Cut back on some of the indulgences I eat now. This reminds me I need to pick up another Pumpkin Pie from Costco, or maybe just bake one myself. Mmmm pumpkin pie for breakfast with whip cream.

Most Thanksgiving foods are pretty healthy.  I just skip gravy, tons of butter, etc.  I mean, how bad is Turkey breast, green beans, sweet potatos?  And pumpkin pie without the crust is pretty much health food, right?

Halloween?  Don't buy candy.

Christmas is the worst; I love to bake...and all the parties where you are asked to bring food kill me.  Last year I made 10 batches of fudge.  Put on 3lbs.  Ugh.

You know the worst for me about these holidays are the leftovers. Usually there's sooo much food that you end up eating for days after. I'm cooking smaller portions and giving all leftovers, same for Halloween candies. Get rid of it so you don't get tempted. And like someone said above, portion control is key during the meal itself and don't linger around where the food is set, you'll eat more without even noticing.